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Jan 30, 2014

The first Travel tale on
Thursday is here :) There will be two travel tales each month. Memories,
accidents, hilarious episodes, reviews of a place, wish list – it all will be
part of these Thursday tales. Excited? Read on.

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My parents are pretty
cool people. I found my freedom at quite an early age and have been living
independently for a long time now. If ever one thing that freaks them out, it
is my travel plans with friends. My permission fiasco was daringly shared as a
guest post on Richa’s profile a while ago. (Read it here at http://subzeroricha.blogspot.in/2013/11/mom-actually-there-is-trip.html)

Okay, not to exaggerate
it. All that freaking out is thing of past and my parents now happily accept my
travel plan announcements.

So it was my Birthday in
2012 and it fell on a Saturday. Adding cherry to the cake, Friday was a
holiday. Thus, there I was with a long Birthday weekend and a near perfect
weather of August.

It was an impromptu plan
and before we knew it we were on our way to Mcloedgunj. Mcloedgunj is a small
town in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. It is approx. 500 kms from Delhi
and it is a near smooth 8 hour journey. Mcloedgunj is famous for Dalai Lama’s
residence in exile, due to which the city has a lot of Buddhist and Tibetan
influences.

We chose to drive down
to Dharamshala via Chandigarh. We started early morning and stopped on a
highway dhaba (dhaba is a hindi word for
roadside restaurant) for Breakfast. Another stop to have some tea and enjoy
monsoon rains, and we were in Kangra valley without any hitch.

Only when we reached
Mcloedgunj, we realized how big a tourist attraction the place was. Being a
small town, we expected the place to be a quiet one but the town was bustling
with activities.

The town has several
small hotels and inns and in summers, all are full almost every weekend.
(Lesson – if it is a long weekend, make sure you have booked a room for yourself
in advance). However, after two hours of inquiring in some 20 different hotels,
we found two rooms and thus, began our time in McLoedgunj.

Being a tourist attraction,
town boasts of several eateries serving global cuisine. Although not close in
authenticity, one can enjoy an Indianised global food in the town.

McLoedgunj has several Buddhist
monasteries and a very famous Dalai Lama office. While the office is not
accessible, monasteries are must visit. We began the next day with visiting a
couple of monasteries.

A small water fall which
then runs as a stream for few kilometers before it meets Beas in Kangra valley
is one of the popular tourist attractions. Crystal clear, rapid flowing water
is ultimate solace when a Delhite travels to beat scorching Delhi summers. As a
result, small tea shops, serving Maggie and tea open up during peak season
along the stream. We spent quite some time hopping on rocks and playing with
water in the stream.

For shopaholics like us,
there are many shops selling keep-sakes and souvenirs. There are also specialties
of Tibet to shop like shawl and bone jewellery.

Since, I am a foodie, I
come back to food. One can find some authentic tibetian food in this town
(remember momos and thukpa?) We relished these for dinner at a popular
restaurant.

Weekend that it was, it had
to end in just two days. The next day, Sunday began our long journey back home,
which we completed with more than five stops on the way including Bhakra Nangal
Dam.

A birthday that wasn’t
like every other year was certainly one of the best Birthday celebrations I ever
had.

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Oct 30, 2013

Sushant couldn’t understand what
Priya meant. She had just been through a lot and he didn’t want to bank upon
her emotional vent out. He gave her a quick hug and left.

It took Priya a better part of the
hour to comprehend what she had just been through. Just yesterday, when she had
resolved to not think about Nitin anymore, he had now come and stood in front
of her once again. He knew about Navya and he wanted her whereabouts. On the
other hand Sushant had been more than a friend and displayed his love openly.

A million questions hovered in her
head. “Was she using Sushant’s love? Was Nitin really concerned and had really
changed? Was she being too strict with Nitin by not letting him to explain?
Will it be wrong to Sushant if she gave a second chance to Nitin? What did her
last words to Sushant mean? Was she really in love with Sushant or she was just
giving in to vulnerable situation? Will it be justified for Sushnt to bear the
brunt of her past relationship? What was it that Sushant looking, did he know
what future could be if they were together? Why was Deepti supporting Nitin?”

She was in middle of her thoughts
when Deepti came in. She was in tears. She wanted to apologize and realized the
mistake she had done by agreeing to help Nitin.

Seeing her friend in distress made
Priya guilty. Maybe she overreacted in front of Nitin. Maybe she became too
vulnerable or too rigid to allow him to explain.

She called up Sushant for advice. He
suggested that she must meet him and give a chance to explain. Upon her
insistence, he agreed to come along with her to meet and arrange a meeting.

No amount of preparation could
enable Priya to face Nitin calmly. Just his name reflected all the painful
memories of the times she spent alone.

She gathered the courage to read the
emails that he had sent. Contrary to the first that she had read couple of
nights ago, the other two were full of remorse and guilt. One of the emails
read, “How do I explain to you the happiness I get when I think that you
actually gave birth to our child. It tells me more than your loving nature; it
tells me that you still love me to search for me in our daughter.”

How wrong he was. He did not know
that ever since she looked at her daughter for the second time she resolved to
not search for her father’s face. She infact never thought of him and imagined
him to return.

Another part of email mentioned that
he was planning to begin a project in India and will be shifting soon, he
mentioned about his broken engagement.

The more she read, the stronger her
resolve became. Priya knew without meeting Nitin, he no longer had a space in
her life.

Oct 27, 2013

Priya wondered what was wrong with
Deepti. The way she called and said that she wanted to meet her and it was
urgent, it had worried her. But very next moment she had continued to assure
that she was fine and she wanted her to meet someone.

As she got ready to meet Deepti at
the café that she had asked, she thought about past few days. Sushant’s sudden
declaration of his love had come as a shock.

She had stood there at the door, trying
to register his words till her mother bought her inside. Priya couldn’t understand
what made Sushant say so, was it actually his love or it was his pity layered
with his friendship?

It took a lot of courage to take a
step ahead and call back Sushant. She called up and invited him over.

Sushant was quiet for some time when
he came. Priya could sense that he was nervous. It had taken a strong
resolution to declare his love, but when it came to discuss their future, he
was scared of losing his friend.

“Sushant about what you said
yesterday…” Priya nervously began.

As if Sushant was waiting for her to
begin the topic, he got up and took Priya’s hand in his. “Priya, I guess ever
since I have known you I have liked you. I managed to hide my feelings for your
sake because you were dating Nitin. Later when he broke your heart and
disappeared, something inside me told me to tell you about my feelings then. It
broke my heart to see you lost and depressed. However, I didn’t want to be a
rebound or take advantage of your situation. I gave you your time. You decided
to come back to India and who was I to stop. Last few times I came to see you, I
couldn’t gather up the courage. In the end, I had to tell aunty. She gave me
the assurance and encouraged me to talk to you. Yesterday I saw that probably
you were ready to move on and I somehow managed to tell you.”

He paused for a while and continued.
“I love you, but that does not mean you have to accept me too. You don’t have
to say anything if you aren’t willing right now. I’ll wait. All I want you to
know is that I am going to be there by your side whenever you want.” He gave
her hand a little squeeze and backed away.

In that moment, Sushant’s unbound
friendship flashed in front of her eyes. He had never judged her, he never let
her down. He had been there with her in thick and thin. However, she could not
muster up the courage to trust again.

“Give me some time Sushant. I don’t think
I can answer you right now. Thank you for everything. You have been there even
when I wasn’t sure of myself. But no matter how hard I try, I cannot let go.”
Priya slowly tried to put her point across.

Sushant moved ahead and stopped her.
“There isn’t a need. I can well understand your emotions after all you have
been through. However, I just want you to think in that direction…

Oct 26, 2013

Deepti was seated against him in a café.
He had called her up and requested her to meet up. Her first instinct was to
deny, knowing Priya, discussing her private life without her knowledge was not a
great idea. However, he had insisted that she met him and she reluctantly
agreed.

Deepti wondered how he got her
number, but since she had this same number for last eight years, it wasn’t a
secret anyway.

She sat there with a coffee in front
of her while he explained last three years of his life, his love to Priya and
request that he wanted to marry her.

It was evident that he loved her. He
asked her about Navya. Deepti refused to provide any details about Priya’s
present life.

“What do you want me to do?” she
finally asked.

“I want to meet her or speak to her.”
he said.

“Why don’t you call her yourself?”
Deepti questioned.

“I don’t have her number or her
address. I wrote many mails, she replied to none.” Nitin replied with a sigh.

Deepti reluctantly agreed to take
him to Priya’s home. He really was sorry. Looking at Priya, the way she was,
she deserved all the happiness. Deepti hoped that Priya will be able to forgive
Nitin and accept him back in her life.

One can never estimate the epitome
of other’s pain. What Deepti didn’t understand that each of us handle grief
differently. She had not understood the void that had been created in Priya’s
life when Nitin left, which she had managed to cover up with smaller pleasures
with Navya and her work.

Oct 24, 2013

“So he didn’t know. He didn’t know
that he had a daughter and had expected her to move on so easily. How could
Nitin be so cruel?” Priya sat in front of her computer, staring at the email
that she had just finished reading and cried uncontrollably.

She had to put her laptop away, she
didn’t want to read any more mails from the person who had conveniently signed
her off his life. She got up and switched off her laptop.

Wiping her tears, Priya kissed her
daughter and lied down next to her. She bitterly thought of Nitin who had taken
the fact for granted that once he wasn’t there, she would abort.

Remembering the day at doctor’s
clinic where she asked for her options, a sudden guilt enveloped her. She
hugged her little princess and silently apologized. She dreaded the day when
her daughter would want to know the entity of her father.

Between her sobs she let out a
silent prayer for God to give her strength to love her daughter enough to make
up for a missing parent, and wished that her daughter never finds out about her
thoughts when she was conceived.

Next morning, Sushant’s call woke
her up. It was a cold early morning. Looking at the time, she found it
surprising that he called at that hour. Then she wondered that maybe due to
time difference he forgot and answered with a sleepy Hello.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me that
Delhi is this cold in January?” Sushant’s voice boomed through the speakers.
Priya could clearly hear teeth chattering.

“What? What are you doing in Delhi?”
Priya tried to get up while making sense of what he was telling.

“Nothing. I will tell you, you have
one hour, I am coming to your home. Ok bye for now, I need to get in the cab to
get out of this cold.” Sushant finished his part and ended the call.

That was so typically Sushant. Priya
annoyingly thought about his lack of planning and got out of the bed. In the
kitchen, her mother seemed to be in good mood and was preparing her favourite mother.
The smell of butter over her favourite paranthas replaced annoyance with a
smile, and Priya got onto helping her mother with setting up the breakfast
table for themselves.

Sushant was home, just in time for
breakfast. His chirpy self was gone. He was serious and seemed tired. Priya
served him breakfast and announced that he wasn’t going to the hotel and
staying with them. However, this time he was sure that he wanted to.

He was ready to leave after
breakfast. Priya went to see him to the door. However, he stopped in his tracks.

“What?” She raised an eyebrow.

“I have to tell you something.” He
replied.

“Go ahead.” She walked ahead and
opened the door for him.

He stepped out and turned. “Priya,
please listen to this peacefully. I am here in Delhi to see you. We have been
great friends, but I don’t know when I began loving you. I know all about you
and your past, but if there is one person I want to marry or settle down with,
it’s you. Please call me if you think you can talk to me about this. I’ll be
waiting.”

With these words, he turned and
walked away to waiting taxi, leaving Priya stunned and cold in Delhi winter
morning.

Oct 23, 2013

Priya was working till late that
Friday. She had taken a day off because of Navya’s fever and had gotten no time
to work the entire day. She finished her work around 12 am, and put her file to
attach in her mail and went to check on Navya. Upon finding her sleeping
peacefully, she came back and sent the mail across.

Having finished the pending work,
Priya stretched on the chair. Sleepless, thanks to a large cup of coffee that
she consumed, Priya idled around at social networking sites for a bit. She
checked her Facebook, changed a picture there, updated her Linkedin profile and
accepted some new requests. She decided to watch a movie online, but before
that she planned to open her personal email account and check mails that she
hadn’t checked for months.

Priya began to scan through some
five hundred plus unread mails. Some Junk, some updates from sites that she had
subscribed to, she scrolled further down. Her hands came to a sudden halt.
There was a mail from Nitin. It was marked as Reply, and she instantly knew
there was more than one.

She launched a search and came
across all mails from Nitin.

Mails from the time they dated. Love
messages, which they wrote to each other while at work. Then there was that one
mail where he had broken up with her. Then there were three emails that were
un-read.

Priya shifted in her chair. Fighting
back the tears, she opened the oldest.

Recipient – Priya Gupta

Sender – Nitin Kumar

Date – 5th October, 2012

Subject – Engagement

Dear Priya,

How are you? I don’t know if I
reserve the right to write to you or not. I won’t apologize and tell you that I
was wrong. But maybe, my method was.

I hope you have moved on from me and
found love in your life.

Priya, as you know when I was with
you, I had no other priority other than career. You were there in my life, and
you provided the support I needed.

I cannot explain how I felt when you
announced your pregnancy. I was happy, and I was scared. I was relieved when I
got to know that you didn’t want the baby. It felt immoral somehow, so I tried
to convince us that we should not abort, and to my surprise you suddenly
agreed.

Your sudden excitement regarding
marriage and baby made me nervous, and then you went.

You said that you’ll be gone for ten
days, after which I was to meet you but you extended that to three weeks.

In these weeks, you weren’t
available on phone or otherwise and my life turned upside down. I was offered a
position in Hong Kong and was asked to move immediately. This was a new
opportunity, a dream come true situation for me.

If you remember, I tried to talk to
you about the baby and marriage, but you were always in rush. Priya I just
couldn’t continue. I knew you will understand why I left, and left without
saying much.

I was hopeful that you will see some
sense and move on.

And even today, I hope that you have
moved on and have found someone else in your life.

Priya, I wanted to tell you, that
almost nine months later, I have found someone whom I liked. At this stage, I
am settled in my career and want to start a family. I will be getting engaged
on next Sunday.

Oct 22, 2013

When Sushant came in, Priya thought
that she will warn him about Deepti’s situation. However, by the time he
settled down, Deepti was already there. She seemed to be in no mood to discuss
her problems in front of Sushant.

In the end, the trio ended up having
a lot of fun, playing pranks and cracking jokes at each other. Priya was so
relieved to be around her two favourite people.

She felt bad that she couldn’t speak
to Deepti about her issues but in a way was happy that her friend had an
evening away from her miseries.

In coming days, Priya spent a lot of
time, showing around new places to Sushant. Since, she took a couple of days
off from work; they spent time with Navya and her parents.

When it was time to go, Sushant told
Priya about Nitin’s engagement. It felt as if someone had dropped a bomb on
her. Somewhere, she had kept the hope alive that one day when he will hear of
their daughter, or see her picture on facebook, he will realize his mistake.
But this new found information killed the last bit of hope.

Crying over her loss, was something
Priya was over with long ago. She took the information with a pinch of salt and
moved on.

Days in office weren’t as pleasant as
before. She had been good friends with Harsh and the problems with his
relationship made her distance herself a little further.

Priya spent more and more time with
her daughter who was about to be six months old now. She had moved on.

Deepti decided to carry on with her
work and separated from Harsh. She moved into a new apartment against her
mother’s wishes. Priya made sure that she coped up well with the new void that had been created in her life.

Oct 21, 2013

In coming weeks, Priya could see
Deepti sinking in. She didn’t want Deepti to get into the phase where she was
six months ago. The girls met over drink one day, and they couldn’t discuss
anything but Deepti. Priya strongly felt that Deepti should move out and had
voiced the same.

However, She tried to talk to Harsh
over lunch one day. After a while of trying to avoid the conversation, Harsh started
with a detailed account of their relationship and the current situation. He
explained that they were two very different people and Deepti herself
acknowledged the same. He admitted that he wasn’t one of the easy people to live
with and he understood Deepti’s efforts to try to live up to his expectations.

He explained his liking to his
colleague and confessed that the gossip was more than what was true. He agreed
to support Deepti in whatever way he could and it would be solely her decision
to move out or stay back. He promised that he wouldn’t cross his limits till
she was there with him and he would try to work it out between them once more.

The humility and sobriety on Harsh’s
part confused Priya. Each time she tried to put the situation in black and
white and thought about Harsh’s wrong, his clear arguments and determined
commitments to his relationship stood strong, leaving her confused about him.

Determined to help her friend, Priya
called Deepti to her place on a Saturday for a night stay. Deepti agreed.

Priya decided to order some great
food and put Navya to bed early. With only weekends at her hand, she was so
busy with her daughter and her parents that when she picked up the phone there
were several missed calls, out of which most of them from Sushant.

She called him up to find his number
switched off. Then she called up Deepti to check the time she was arriving. She
was on her last call, when Sushant called again.

Before she could even say hello,
Sushant started, “Hey, I have been trying to call you since morning. I have
just reached India, now give me the address to your house otherwise I will have
to go to search for a hotel.” Priya stood listening to what he said, trying to
make sense of it all.

A minute later, it all came back,
the mail that he wrote explaining that he was coming to Delhi for some work and
since his parents no longer lived in Delhi, he needed her help to find accommodation
for a week or so, and she had written him an elaborate reply, scolding on
searching for an option when he had her house to stay at. He had asked her for
the address, and she forgot to reply.

Sushant voice bought her back, “So
madam! What happened? Are you giving me the address or you are coming to pick
me at the airport?” She smiled at his joke and gave him the address and
direction.

Priya didn’t know how to handle this
new problem. Sushant was excited to see her and Navya, and Deepti was stressed.
How would she manage it? She thought of asking Deepti to cancel, but that wouldn’t
be right.

As usual, her mother came to her
help. She calmed her nerves and explained her to let it be, maybe it was
happening for a reason.

Oct 20, 2013

Priya found it difficult to work
with Harsh any longer. She had seen a different dominating side of him when she
visited his house. She had seen the sadness and anxiety in her friend’s eyes.
On top of it, this new found information was something that she couldn’t handle.

“Ignorance indeed is bliss”, she
thought to herself as she tried to push it away from her mind but her thoughts
seemed to have been stuck there.

She had never made anything out of
office gossip, but when the grapevine revealed that Harsh and one of their
office colleagues were having an affair, she couldn’t ignore it.

On their way back, she tried to
speak to Harsh about it, but she couldn’t. A part of her brain told her that it
was none of her business. Another reasoned that it was about her best friend’s
life.

“What is wrong with you?” Deepti
tried to cajole some information from Priya.

Four of them sat at the bar. It had
become more of a routine now. They were all chit-chatting but Priya found it
difficult to digest the information that would shatter Deepti’s world. She
tried to delay the news till she could and shrugged at the question.

However, her thoughts wouldn’t leave
her. When on their way home, Deepti questioned the same thing again. Priya got
serious.

Slowly she started, “Deepti, I think
I have a bad news.”

Looking at Deepti’s expectant face, she
continued. “I have got to know a few things about Harsh through office gossip.
I don’t know if they are true. I don’t want to judge him, he seems nice. But
you know, they say that he is having an affair…” her voice trailed off.

Deepti looked down and a silence
stretched between the two. After a while, she said, “I know about that. I know
that girl too.”

Priya was stunned. Her best friend,
who had been such a big support to her, had been taking all her pain and hiding
it away. She took Deepti’s hand in hers.

Deepti continued, “It has been going
on for a month or so. I somehow sensed it. I had met her at one of office
parties last year. I have decided to speak to Harsh about it. I want to get separated.”

Oct 19, 2013

Deepti had always measured her life
in black and white. There wasn’t any space for greys. She had always known the
difference between the right and the wrong.

She had thought her married life to
be the same too. She tried to put things that were wrong and things that were
right in two different parts of her mind. She made sure that there was a
balance between both the sides.

But Harsh seemed to do everything
that she couldn’t categorize. He pampered her to extreme ends. Showering with
fancy gifts and dinners at the places she didn’t know existed. He was a
hopeless romantic case who loved everything from flowers to candles. But at the
same time he picked on smallest of things like mismatched cutlery or extra salt
in gravy. He would fight with her if her dress was a bit loose or a bit tight,
if she gained weight or lost a bit. His arguments weren’t wrong. He did it to
correct her, to improve her, to make her more presentable than she was. But she
couldn’t take it. When between friends, he would correct her with the right way
of opening a wine bottle, she swallowed her tears. But the very next moment,
when he would pull her closer and tell her that the wine was perfectly chilled,
she forgave him once again.

Of late Harsh’s nick picks had been
too much for her to handle. However, knowing his short temper, she kept quiet
and took it all. Harsh was a perfect man. But one does not need a perfect man
to make a perfect relationship. How she craved to find little imperfections in
Harsh, so she could love him deeper.

Today Priya was supposed to come
over after work. Deepti had taken extreme care to bring the food and the table
to perfection. Knowing her best friend and her knack for perfection, she didn’t
want to be cornered in front of two perfectionists.

Harsh and Priya had been colleagues
for almost a month now. They were working on a project together and Deepti had called
Harsh to ask Priya over for dinner. He kept her on hold while he asked her. She
could hear a denial, but after a bit of persuasion she had agreed. On their way
back from office, they would pick Navya from Priya’s home and bring her too.

In last one month, Harsh had couple
of times mentioned about Priya and her intelligence. She was happy that Priya
was finally doing good for herself. However, the judgemental part of Harsh
could still not accept her child and her decisions to come back to India.
Deepti had tried to reason it with him, but he was too strong on his arguments.
She eventually had to let go.

She was in middle of her trail of
thoughts and double-checking everything, when the doorbell rang.

Oct 16, 2013

Priya had met Ritika at Deepti’s
wedding but had not got any chance to talk. She was meeting Shriya for the
first time that day. She was a bit annoyed to see two new people when she hoped
to sit and talk to her best friend.

The conversation on the table was
mainly around Deepti and her new married life. Her both friends seemed rather
nice. Their care for Deepti showed. Priya slowly forgot her own set of issues
and joined them in teasing Deepti.

They coaxed her into details of her
life and teased her over minor details. Priya laughed till she had her tears in
her eyes. She was grateful to these girls for she did not remember when she had
laughed like this last.

“Common Deepti, tell us more about
your married life” laughed Shriya.

Deepti blushed. “There isn’t much to
tell.”

“Oh yes madam!” the duo teased and
all of them burst out laughing.

It was after about one hour when
Ritika and Shriya left. Girls promised to meet more often and hugs and kisses
later parted ways.

Deepti dragged Priya to a nearby
coffee shop and asked her about her health. Priya had told Deepti all about her
pregnancy and her fall out with Nitin. Deepti was the only person who
understood her position and supported her.

The girls sat there in absolute
silence. Priya didn't have much to tell, and Deepti didn't feel like talking
about herself.

After a while, Deepti broke the
silence. “What next?”

Priya framed the sentence before she
spoke. Then she started in a slow voice. “The baby is due in a month and a
half. I will be home till then. Akash, Shailja aunty’s son wanted some help
with his CS exams, so I agreed to teach him for a small amount. Just yesterday
he said, that one of his friends wanted to join too. So for now, at least next
four - six months, this will be all. Then I will have to look for a job. Mom is
pushing me to get married, but I am not ready.”

Deepti sighed. She didn't really
know how to respond. They were best friends. Sisters that neither had. They had
been through everything together, but today when life was a bed of roses for
Deepti, it seemed the thorns had been picked and laid in Priya’s way. She didn’t
know if it was her own happiness or Priya’s problem that made Deepti feel shallow
and vain.

They drove till Priya’s home in
silence. Parting ways, Deepti said, “let me know if I can help in anyway.”

Priya hugged her friend and
comforted her. “You don’t need to feel sorry. I am fine. Especially now that am
back, I am doing quite good. I will let you know if there is anything you need
to do. Otherwise, for now your support is all I need.” With these words she
opened the door and walked up to her house. Deepti started the car to park it
two houses away and then realized she had to go to her new home, to Harsh.

“Are you mad? Do you know you are taking a lifetime
decision?” Priya asked.

“We can’t help it. It’s India my dear. You know what
will happen if I even think about it. Plus it is not going to be bad. He is a
nice guy, it’s just that he want things his way and that can’t be too bad.”
Deepti said touching up her make up for the next ceremony.

Deepti had requested everyone to leave once Priya
reached her room. She was nervous and she had five minutes to talk to her
before she went ahead. She told her about her experience of six months of courtship
and Harsh’s need for perfection on her part.

Deepti had always been average. She wore simple
clothes, ate simple food, though she was updated but it wasn’t as though she
could talk on all subjects. Whereas, Harsh wanted his wife to be perfect. He
loved to flaunt her and wanted her to take care of her appearance. He
constantly corrected at her pity wrong grammar and gave his inputs on other
things like her dress or her shoes.

She knew they were for her own good, and a part of her
reasoned that she will learn to accept his comments gracefully. But the rebel
in her argued. She had always loved herself the way she was and did not want to
change.

For maybe a hundredth time, Deepti let out a silent
prayer for her married life as she got up to go.

Just at the door she stopped. She hugged her friend
tight.

“How many months more?” she asked with tears flooding
her eyes.

“Four” Priya replied.

“I have to talk to you. You have been through a lot in
these months, let’s meet once before I go for my honeymoon. When are you
leaving?” composing herself, Deepti asked.

“Don’t worry. And smile! Everything will be okay for
you. He is a great guy. I’ll pray, and yes we’ll meet soon. I am here only, not
yet decided when to go back. Common now, let’s go, you can’t be late for all
the ceremonies in your wedding.” Priya said and walked her to the hall.

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Don't you hope that all is well with the girls? Read more on Day 12 of UBC.